


The Child's Tale

by ginnekomiko



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Gen, Universe Alteration
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-01-22
Updated: 2018-03-23
Packaged: 2018-05-15 12:58:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 4,269
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5786119
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ginnekomiko/pseuds/ginnekomiko
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fallen child has some unexpected help on their quest to get out of The Underground.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

The child awoke to an unfamiliar setting. This place was dark, and quiet. The only sound was the water that occasionally dripped down from above. Their leg stung a bit, but they had landed on a surprisingly soft flower bed. It smelled very nice, almost comforting.

The child scooted off of the flowers quickly, and did their best to straighten any bent stems. Their leg continued to sting, but they worked through it. The child smiled. “Thank you for breaking my fall,” they said softly to the flowers.

“What are you talking about?” said a voice. One of the golden flowers popped out before them. This one looked friendly! It had a smile and everything!

“Ah!” said the child as they fell backwards.

“Howdy!” said the flower. “I’m Flowey. Flowey the flower.”

The child waved their hand.

“Hmm, you must be new here. I guess it’s up to me to show you how things are done around here. In this place we share LOVE.”

“LOVE?”

“Yeah, LOVE. Here, I’ll show you!” Flowey created a circle of white petals.

“Ah! Pretty!” the child said.

“The best part is when you catch them!” Flowey said. “Ready?”

The child nodded.

The petals rained down with a surprising speed.

_Move._

The child nervously stepped to the side.

“What’s wrong? Don’t you want to catch the petals?”

The flowers growing around where the white petals had landed had their own torn as if something had cut them up.

_Don’t trust him!_

The child backed away slightly. Flowey’s eyes stayed firmly on their wounded leg. “I’m going to make this even easier, okay?” A larger circle of white petals formed around them. “You’ll be _sure_ to catch them now!”

The child tripped on a root when they tried to turn to run.

“You naive **idiot**!” Flowey laughed.

The child covered their face with their arms and began to shake.

_It’s alright, look! It’s Toriel!_

_Mom is still here!_

The child opened their eyes to find Flowey had gone.

“Oh my!” said a gentle new voice. The child looked up. A lady monster had leaned down to their level. She noticed their wounded leg and her eyes widened. “Oh, you poor thing! Here, let me help you with that. Better?”

The child nodded. “T-thank you, Toriel.”

The woman paused. “How did you know my name, small one?”

The child shifted slightly.

“I see. Well, that does not matter really. Can you walk?” She watched as the child attempted to walk normally, but they heavily favored one leg. “Here, do not worry, little one. I shall carry you.”

She bent down and picked the child up with ease. The fur on her body was soft, and it smelled nice. It was easy to relax in the crook of her arm.

“You really are like a mom,” The child said softly as they drifted off to sleep against her.

Toriel swallowed her gasp and held the child tightly to her. She quickened her steps as she walked through the ruined catacombs. If she was not careful, the cycle would begin again.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Child is taken to Toriel's house.

The child awoke in a room that was not their own. It was not an unpleasant room by any means; it had a warm feeling to it. Whoever had it before them had obviously been loved. There were many smiling pictures scattered throughout the variously sized shelves.

Interesting. There were different children in each of these pictures.

_Look! It’s me!_

_It’s still here! Right where I left it!_

_Look! Mom kept the doll I made for her! She really kept it!_

_I bet she’s made a pie! You should go check!_

Whoever these voices were, they seemed to love this room. The child gently shut the door.

They found Toriel sitting in a chair by a fireplace. She was reading a book on snails.

“Um, Mom?” the child said softly.

“Oh, hello, child!” said Toriel as she looked up from her book. She put it down on a nearby table. “Are you feeling better?”

They nodded.

“Welcome to my home. It’s centered in the ruins of Mt. Ebbot. It looks like you fell down here somehow. You’re lucky I found you when I did.”

“Uh-huh,” they said with another nod.

The goat woman smiled gently at them. “It’s alright. If you aren’t comfortable with words, I won’t force you to talk.”

The child hugged Toriel. Perhaps the voices would feel the warmth of her embrace, or maybe she would feel that they were still with her, even now.

“Come now, if you are to live here you must learn how things are done. Take my hand, please.”

Obediently, the child followed beside her.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> How to deal with monsters and puzzles.

The ruins were surprisingly large. The child could not hold in their wonder at the sight of the intricate carvings on the walls, or how tall the vines were growing. Still, they kept a tight grip on Toriel’s soft hand. She was easy to match pace with while they walked.

“Well, my child, do you like the ruins?” she asked.

They nodded.

“We must be careful, sometimes monsters appear down here,” Toriel said.

Something moved out of the corner of their eye.

 “Oh my. It’s a Froggit,” Toriel said as the creature hopped by. It stopped right in front of them.

“Please don’t even think about it,” Toriel said calmly to the monster. She had a surprisingly scary face despite her tone of voice.

 _Oh no, Mom’s got her angry face on!_ One of the voices laughed.

 _And there it goes,_ said another.

The child and the monster continued on as if the encounter had not happened.

“The ruins are full of puzzles,” Toriel said. “I’m a little worried they will be too hard for you at the moment, so for now, we will go together, okay?”

_If you need help, just ask us! We know our way around puzzles!_

_Yeah, yeah! Solving puzzles is fun!_

“I would like you to practice talking to this dummy,” Toriel said as she pulled out a stuffed monster looking doll on a stand. “As you saw before, speaking with monsters you encounter is a very good way of dealing with them.”

_Or angry faces._

“Hi!” the child said.

The dummy said nothing in response, but Toriel smiled all the same. “Very good. Little one, I must leave you now for just a moment. Be good, okay?”

The child tugged on Toriel’s hand.

“Yes?”

The child nuzzled her nose.

“I love you, too,” she said. “Take this cell phone for emergencies only. I will be back soon. I will call you.”

_So what will you do? Will you wait?_

The child thought for a moment. Puzzles were fun. If they stayed close to this room, it should be okay.

Two steps out of the room, they ran into another monster.

_That’s a Whimsun._

_Don’t hurt it! It’s crying!_

“Ah… it’s okay little one,” The child began.

The Whimsun flew away at breakneck speed.

 In the next room over, there was another Froggit.

_Compliment it! Say it looks nice!_

 When the child did so, the Froggit blushed. The child waved as the Froggit hopped away to join the others in the room. They seemed to approve of the child’s methods and let them explore the room as they pleased.

_See! The monsters down here aren’t as scary as people say they are!_

If that was the case, then why had there even been a war?


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> War, puzzles, and HEARTBREAK

_Long ago, two races ruled over Earth: HUMANS and MONSTERS.  
_

_One day, war broke out between the two races._

_After a long battle, the humans were victorious._

_They sealed the monsters underground with a magic spell._

That was how the story was always told on the surface. Short, simple, almost like a fairy tale. But given what the child had seen of the monsters down here, somehow, that explanation didn’t seem to be correct. So things were fine until one day they just weren’t?

 _Watch your step!_ One of the voices cried.

The child fell gently down and landed on a pile of red leaves with a soft crunch. They laughed. That was their fault. They played in the leaves for a moment before hopping out. If Toriel saw them now, she’d probably be worried, or maybe she’d be mad that they disobeyed her? Something poked them in the back.

Oh, it was just a stick.

_Try again! You’ll get right way this time, I’m sure!_

Puzzles were fun! They met a talking rock! It was so nice to move when they asked! They hoped that the dapper ghost they met was feeling better, too.

_Look!_

_It’s the door to the outside!_

They took a step forward.

“Ah, so this is where you ran off to,” Toriel’s voice said. She sounded hurt.

“Mom… I was just…” the child began without looking back at her. “I mean…”

 She walked past the child and blocked the door. “You disobeyed me. Just like all the others.” She looked at the child with tears in her eyes. “Little one, do you truly wish to leave so badly?”

This place was nice, she was nice, but…

They nodded.

Toriel sighed. “Fine. If that is your choice, then prove to me you are strong enough!”

What was happening? She moved her arms close to her chest and summoned a lovely purple flame. It bloomed like a flower and rained down all around them.

_MOM, NO!_

_DON’T DO IT!_

“What is this?” Toriel whispered. “Why am I hearing their voices?” More flames sprouted from her palms. “Stop! You’re not here anymore!”

The fireballs continued to rain down. Try as the child might, they couldn’t dodge all of the flames.

That lovely purple fire actually burned when it touched the child’s skin.

It hurt.

“Ah!” they cried.

The child reached behind them. If they used the stick they found, then maybe they could make the pain stop...

_PUT THAT DOWN! DON’T MAKE THE SAME MISTAKE I DID!_

_LOOK, PLEASE LOOK AT HER!_

The fire danced around the child, but it wasn’t hitting them anymore. Toriel had complete control over it now, despite the pained look on her face.

“Please,” the child whispered. “Please let me go.”

“Asgore will kill you, like he killed the others,” Toriel said.

The voices were silent then.

“It’ll be alright, Mom. They’re right here with me.”

“They are, aren’t they?” Toriel said softly. “I’m glad. My children, please be safe on your journey.” Toriel said as she dropped to her knees. The child fell into her warm embrace. “Little one, if this is what you truly wish to leave, please do not come back here. Take this cellphone. You might need it at some point, but do not call me. I cannot lose another child to death.”

“I understand. Thank you, Mom. I’ll be okay.”

The only sound was the door creaking open.

“Bye, Mom.”

The hallway that followed was dark, almost shapeless.

_It will be alright, just keep walking forward. You’ll see another door eventually._

Something popped out of the ground at their feet.

That flower again. It was the only spot of color in the blackness.

“What do you want now, Flowey?” the child asked.

“Coward,” said the flower with a cruel grin. “So you saved one life. So what? Do you feel good about yourself? In this world it’s kill or be killed! Once you exit through the door behind me, you can’t turn back!”

“That’s fine, I’ll just keep walking forward,” the child said as they walked towards the door.

“Where have I heard that line before? Ah, yes, I think it was that goat woman’s third foundling. They were very kind, too. I heard on the grape vine that they died somewhere out in the wide world. I think it was… the cold?”

Before pushing it open, the child looked back at Flowey. They were momentarily blinded by the white of the outside. In that split second, they felt something cold and hard grab their hand.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Skeletons, skelepuns, and snow.

The child felt the cold wetness of the snow under them. It took them a moment to realize they had fallen and landed on it.

“Sorry there, pal. Guess I tugged a little too hard. You were stumbling around like one of those puppet dolls.”

The child looked up. A smiling skeleton dressed in a hoodie and some… slippers?

“Here, let me help you up.”

The child took his hand.

BRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAP

The child held in a giggle.

“Go ahead, laugh,” the skeleton said.

“Hehehe!”

The others were laughing, too.

“Heh, good old whoopee cushion in the hand trick. Haven’t had that big of a reaction in a long time. Actually, com’ere quick! Behind the conveniently shaped lamp!”

Another skeleton tromped into view.

_IT’S PAPYRUS!!! said the voices of the others._

“SANS! IT’S BEEN THREE DAYS AND YOU HAVE NOT RESET YOUR PUZZLES!” said Papyrus.

Sans winked. “Actually, I’ve been working on them a ton. A skele-ton.”

Papyrus’s “EUUUUUUUUUGH” carried through the whole forest.

The child held their hands to their mouth. Must. Not. Laugh. At. Pun.

“GAHHH! I AM GOING TO GO SEARCH FOR HUMANS!  I’M SURE I WILL FIND ONE BECAUSE I AM AMAZING!”

 _Aww! Come back Papyrus!_ said the others.

Sans looked at the child; his grin was wide. “Hey kid, do you mind playing with my brother for a little while? He’s never seen a human before. It should cheer him up.”

The child gave a thumbs-up.

 Sans returned the gesture. “Thanks kid. I’ll be around if you need me.”

Sans then seemingly disappeared into the white of the snow.

 The child smirked. Let the games begin!


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dancing, electro-mazes, and Hotmail.

The child wondered just what kind of puzzles the skeleton-pun brothers would come up with. When they saw the two brothers chatting in the distance, the child jumped gracefully into their line of sight using their latent dance skills.

“IT’S A HUMAN!” said Papyrus.

“Nah. I think that’s a rock,” said Sans.

The child tried not to laugh at Papyrus’s enthusiasm and Sans’s teasing.

“Bro, look. In front of that rock, I think that’s a human,” Sans continued.

“OH MY GOD!!” Papyrus said, his eyeless sockets widening. “THIS IS MY CHANCE!”

Sans winked at the child.

Papyrus spun around excitedly. “JUST YOU WAIT HUMAN!! I HAVE THE BEST TRAP!” He then walked off.

Sans approached them. “Give him a bit, okay? Why not play in the snow? I’ll give you a sign when he’s ready.”

The child began to explore the area around them. They found out a monster left their phone number on the end of a fishing rod. It would probably be best not to call a stranger, even if they did have a cellphone now.

“Excuse me, little child, I have a favor to ask you,” said a gentle voice by the river.

It was a snowman.

 The child cocked their head.

“You see,” the snowman began, “I wish to see the world, but because I am a snowman, I cannot move. Will you take a piece of me with you on your travels?”

The child nodded and put the snowman piece in their bag.

The child turned to see a… hotdog dangling from a tree branch?

The bun of the hotdog wasn’t made out of bread, it was a piece of paper.

“Meet us to the east. Also, have a snack, kiddo.”

That was probably San’s signal to find them again. They munched on the hotdog as they walked. Once again, they twirled into view of Sans and Papyrus.

“IT’S THE HUMAN!!!” said Papyrus excitedly.

“Hey kid, did you get my Hotmail?” Sans asked.

The child nodded and patted their belly.

Sans winked at them again.  

 Papyrus look very important. He held out a shiny orb with the utmost care. “WITH THIS ORB, AND THAT MAZE! YOU WILL HAVE A SHOCKING TIME!”

When Papyrus took a step forward, he shocked himself.

“Bro, you have to give it to the human to shock’em,” Sans said with a smile.

“OH RIGHT! OF COURSE!” Papyrus walked over to the child. “HERE YOU ARE!”

“Ah!” said the child as they skillfully balanced the orb on their head as they jumped into Papyrus’s much larger footprints, crossing all the way to the other side.

“Tada!” they said as they made it across the electro-maze while keeping the orb on their head.

“AMAZING!! AMAZING JOB LITTLE HUMAN! SO SKILLFUL! IT WAS ALMOST AS IF THAT PUZZLE WAS TOO EASY!” Papyrus said as he clapped his hands together. “I MUST THINK OF A MUCH BETTER PUZZLE FOR YOU! SANS! ON TO ROUND TWO!”

“Thanks kid,” said Sans with a wink. “My brother is having a blast. I send you another Hotmail when he’s ready to challenge you again.”

The child gave a thumbs-up. This was so much fun!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's all fun and games until someone brings out the Junior Jumble.

The child passed their time waiting for the next puzzle by playing soccergolf with a nearby snowball.

Soccergolf was a really fun game that some of the others had played before. The objective of the game was to kick the snowball down into the hole in the corner of the snow maze. Apparently, if they did this, a flag would pop up! The different voices gave different accounts on the actual colors of said flag. The child wanted to see what color they might get!

The only problem was, they kept kicking to ball wrong. It kept getting smaller and smaller as they went along until finally it seemed to pop out of existence all together. Interestingly, when one snowball popped another full-sized one took its place at the start of the snow maze. So the child kept playing.

It was around the fourth or fifth snowball that the child finally made the goal! A cheerful chime sounded and a flag popped up!

It was green! Yay!

The child heard Sans chuckle. “Good job keeping at it, kid!”

“Ah! Are you ready to play again?” they asked.

“Yeah. Here, have some fried snow on the house before you play. Have a Nice Cream, too!”

“You did great!” said the note in the Nice Cream.

“Thank you!” said the child. They wiped their mouth on their sleeve.

“We’ll be over there,” Sans said with a wink.

Okay! Time to act surprised! Once again, they twirled into view.

“HUMAN!!! HOW DID YOU KNOW WE WERE READY FOR YOU??? WE JUST FINISHED THIS… THING!!!” said Papyrus.

That “thing” was a single piece of paper lying on the ground. They cocked their head.

“I KNOW!!! IT’S CONFOUNDING ISN’T IT??? MY BROTHER DESIGNED IT!!!”

Cautiously, the child approached the paper.

“Junior Jumble.”

“SANS!!! HOW COULD YOU SUBJECT A CHILD TO THAT??? THAT IS CRUEL!!!”

“Bro, calm down, it’s easy. Maybe I should have used the crossword instead?”

“NO!!! DON’T GO EASY ON THE TINY HUMAN, SANS!!!”

“But didn’t you just-?” Sans began.

“I KNOW WHAT I JUST! HUMAN! WHICH IS HARDER? JUNIOR JUMBLE OR A CROSSWORD???”

The child sat and debated with the others.

 They all cast a vote. Junior Jumble won out by three, so it must be true! They pointed to the paper in their hand.

“SEE???” said Papyrus. “YOU’VE STUMPED THEM! HUMAN! I, THE GREAT PAPYRUS, WILL MAKE YOU SOME PASTA AS AN APOLOGY!! PLEASE WAIT A LITTLE LONGER FOR THE NEXT PUZZLE!!!”

They nodded. Papyrus then left in a hurry.

“Thanks, kid,” said Sans.

The child smiled warmly.

 


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dog Saga Pt. 1

The child found the pasta Papyrus had spoken of sitting on a wooden table in the middle of the snow. There was even a microwave to warm it up! It wasn’t exactly plugged in, but it was the thought that counts, right? It would still be best to take at least a bite. Papyrus had made it, after all.

  1. COLD.



It was still pretty tasty for apology pasta, though!

Anyway, onward! They had to be close to civilization by now, right?

_I think there’s a town around here somewhere._

Along the way, they almost tripped on something. With a little digging, they discovered something! What was a switch doing here?

_Let’s step on it!_

Okie-Dokie!

BOMF!

A soldier with the head of a dog appeared before them, it was probably guarding that switch they just stepped on. It had a spear and shield, but it didn’t seem aggressive.   

_Doggy?_

_Is that a dog?_

Wait, on closer inspection, that _was_ a dog in a full suit of armor! How was it holding anything?

The dog cocked its head and waited expectantly. It panted excitedly. Its eyes darted to the child’s hand.

The child paused. Did it want to be pet?

_Let’s pet it!_

_Pet it!_

_PET IT!_

They gave the dog a gentle pat-pat on the head.

Its neck elongated.

 _What_?

Another pat-pat wouldn’t hurt, would it?

The dog’s neck stretched a little more.

_PET THE DOGGY! MORE!!_

The child gave it plenty of love pats and ear and chin scratches. After all was said and done, the doggy’s head was somewhere in the stratosphere, or at least, that’s what everyone was guessing.

The child reached up uselessly to try to pet the too-high-up dog.

With a rumbling, the nice dog’s head popped out from the snow-covered ground. It was still panting excitedly.

The child hugged the dog’s face. It was nice and warm.

“I have to go now, okay? You’re a really good doggy! Everyone thinks so!”

The dog’s head returned to its proper place.

WOOF!


	9. Chapter 9

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dog Saga Part II.

The child wasn’t sure why “stop, drop and roll,” was their first thought when confronted with the two  tall dog guards in long, scary looking, black robes who said they smelled a smell that needed to be eliminated, but sometimes, you don’t question your instincts, or the frantic yelling of the other voices in your head.

That was when things got interesting.

Now, for some reason, the two dogs regarded the child as a weird lost puppy with whom they nuzzled with as much affection as they gave each other, (which was a lot.)

The child wanted to return the gesture, but somehow, licking didn’t seem like the best idea, so they settled on the next best thing.

They reached up their hand and pet one of the dog guards.

 For a moment, the child could swear the entire big bang had occurred in the dog’s eyes. It was as if the whole cosmos had stirred violently within them, this knowledge never to be unknown again.

“Dogs??? Can pet??? Other dogs???”

For their next trick, the child pet BOTH DOGS AT THE SAME TIME!

This continued for a good hour. There was much love and warmth within their little dogpile. It only ended when the two dogs realized they needed to report back to their boss. Much whining ensued.

After a few more nose kisses from the dogs, they left their new weird puppy friend, with their minds open to all sorts of new possibilities.

The child continued on.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dog Saga Part III.

Normally, the child didn’t mind a little ice-skating, but this nonsense with the Xs and Os and Triangles was getting dull. Failing was kind of fun though, because they got treated to snow art. Well, Papyrus’s buff sculpture counted as art, right? Perhaps Sans was more into to Dada? Whatever that was.

After consulting with the others, and a little more trial and error, they passed through the strange ice obsessed with shapes. They brushed the excess snow off them and continued on until they found… a doghouse!

Houses for dogs meant that there was surely a dog somewhere around here. The others were excited, too.

_BEHOLD!_

_Behind that rock!_

_It’s a doggie!!_

 The small white head poked out from behind a large rock.

“Hello cute little…” the child began.

The dog stood up to reveal a massive armored body.

Honestly? That just made it cuter.

“Who’s a good big doggie? Yes it’s you! Come here!”

The Greater Dog did a strange, two-legged run, it looked more like an over-excited man with the head of a dog more than anything else. The child braced for impact, but nothing prepared them for the full-forced tackle.

Still everyone was having a blast, even if they were covered in snow again.

_Throw a snowball! Throw a snowball!_

The child made a nice snowball to throw for the dog, but sadly, it splatted on impact. Not to be deterred, the Greater Dog made a snow mound and fetched it by dumping in squarely on the child. Then the greater dog flopped down on their lap, putting its full weight and warmth onto the human. The human for their part instantly forgave everything the dog had ever done in its life, and furiously petted the great beast.

This. Was. Contentment. 

The dog seemed pleased with itself, jumped out of the armor and gave sloppy kisses on the face, jumped back into the armor and then CLANG CLANG CLANGED all the way home while somehow still being able to see with a tail for a head.

Now to cross the bridge ahead.

“HUMAN!” said Papyrus from the other end of the bridge.

 _YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY_ said everyone.

“LOOK AT THIS PUZZLE I MADE FOR YOU!!”

Fire, chainsaws, a canon, and… was that another dog? Well, this should be fun!

Uh.

Papyrus had paused.

“ER. WAIT. IS THIS FAIR? NO!! THIS PUZZLE IS NOT FAIR TO THE LITTLE HUMAN!! SCRAP IT! CLICK!”

Everything slowly shifted out of sight.

 _AWWWWWWW!!!_ Said everyone.

“Why’d you do that?” Sans asked.

“I AM A SKELETON WITH STANDARDS, SANS!!”

“I’m looking forward to your next one!” the child called with a wave. “Is the town close?”

Papyrus waved back enthusiastically. “YES! YES! JUST RIGHT ACROSS THIS BRIDGE!”

Finally! Everyone wanted a nap and some hot chocolate after all that fun in the snow.


End file.
